Word: thornier
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...educators really be faulted for the calculation, however cold, that certain kids are an unwise investment of their limited energies and resources? That question quickly leads to the much thornier issues of class and clout that shape the dropout crisis. The national statistics on the topic are blunt: according to the National Center for Education Statistics, kids from the lowest income quarter are more than six times as likely to drop out of high school as kids from the highest. And in Shelbyville, nearly every dropout I met voiced a similar complaint: teachers and principals treat the "rich kids" better...
...answer to your legal question is easy, but the family issues around it are thornier. According to attorneys in several community-property states, if you leave money to your son in your will, it is his property alone--as long as he keeps it in a separate account under his name. But if he puts the cash in a joint account or uses it to buy his wife a diamond necklace, it becomes joint property. To prevent this, you can set up a trust to be funded after your death, appointing a trustee to dole out the money as needed...
...thornier than the design of the spacecraft is the problem posed by all the fuel, food and water such a mission would require. The Apollo flights to the moon were gas-up-and-go trips that lasted no more than 12 days. You could fill the tank and the larder once before you left and carry along everything you would need. Not so when you're looking at 14 months of round-trip flight time between Earth and Mars and perhaps a 1 1/2-year stay on the planet to catch the next Earth-Mars alignment back home. Even...
Coping with a parent's remarriage requires acknowledging that traditions, boundaries and plans have changed. Certain situations may prove thornier than others. A woman whose father marries a much younger person may find herself competing with the new wife for his love and attention. Another who cherishes her role as a parent's caretaker or close confidant can resent being replaced by a spouse. Other adult children may grow concerned that they'll be shut out of decisions for their aging parent. "Some people feel excluded and abandoned," says Susan Wisdom, author of Stepcoupling: Creating and Sustaining a Strong Marriage...
...important but limited role in college admissions. While several of the justices have obviously made up their minds on race-conscious admissions policies, the Court’s “swing” justices, particularly Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, grappled with some of the thornier issues in these cases, whether it was determining appropriate time limits on admissions policies or trying to define the meaning of “meaningful numbers” of minority students on campus...